McMANAMAN HAS EYE ON CUP REPLAY

It doesn’t matter who we get in the end because we know that whoever wins will give us a really tough test come Sunday."

Callum McManaman

Callum McManaman has a knack for performing in the FA Cup, with a goal in the past two consecutive years of the competition to show for his displays.

The 21-year-old says he’s been excited by the competition again this year and is anticipating a battle in the next round no matter who Latics play following tonight’s fourth round replay between Leicester City and Huddersfield Town.

McManaman said:

“I’ll be watching the replay tonight and it will be good to be able to watch both teams so close to us playing one of them because it will be a great opportunity to study how they play.

“It doesn’t matter who we get in the end because we know that whoever wins will give us a really tough test come Sunday.

“Both Leicester and Huddersfield are a good teams and they like to get the ball down and play football which will make for a really good fifth round game for us.”

After spending the first half of the 2011/12 on loan with Championship side Blackpool, McManaman says he knows just how intense games against clubs in that division can be and that Latics will have to be braced for a battle.

“The Championship is a strong division and we know that if we come up against any team from that league it is going to be a hard task.

“I’m looking forward to the game because I enjoyed being on loan in the Championship and I think I’m quite used to the style that those teams bring to a game.

“I enjoyed it when I played in that division because the games were end-to-end and hopefully the game on Sunday will have a similar high tempo.”

With the FA Cup a happy stomping ground for McManaman he said it’s not too unrealistic to hope for progression to the latter stages.

“Getting to Wembley has to be realistic for us because if we can win in the fifth round then there’s only one more game until the semi-finals.

“That gives us even more reason to focus on winning because everybody would love to play at Wembley.

“We’re all excited for the game and no matter what team is put out we’ll be giving it our all to win.”